Always, Patsy Cline!

Well tonight was big treat! Greg and I got to see the musical, Always Patsy Cline. The director Ted Swindley is friends with Greg and actually directed their last show, Arcadia. So he gave us comp tickets. It was really good. I came out of there thinking I needed to look up some of those songs and try to learn them. It brought back some good memories of when I went to Renee Grant-Williams (the best voice coach in Nashville). She introduced me to Patsy Cline. She told me to study how she sung because she was one of the best singers. The difference is that most voice teachers have you open your mouth and really sing those vowels. But this voice coach teaches you to sing through the consonants. It really made a HUGE difference. I still love to sing the song, Crazy like Patsy Cline.

After the show many of us went to eat at Merchants. I had a delicious French Dip sandwich! I enjoyed being around many other artsy people.

Earlier in the day I took the boys swimming at the Y. Ashley went to a girlfriend's house to play. I didn't have time to walk. So when I got home from the play, I power walked for 15 minutes in a circle through my kitchen, school room, living room and foyer. (4-5 times around was one minute) It was monotonous but I did it none the less.

My "create something" item was to make a little hovercraft using a CD, bottle cap and balloon. But it didn't work. I wonder if the bottle cap was too heavy. I might try again tomorrow or when I can find the right cap to use. I'll share the website on how to make it when I try again.

Here it is nearly 3AM and I've finally finished all 10 items and can go to bed.

Good thing I can sleep in tomorrow!

My Life today

Another 2 miles and my feet hurt!

I don't know what I'm going to do when Doris isn't available. She keeps me going. I'm not so sure I can keep this up on my own.

Yesterday's "Make Something" took way too long to create. I just made this little card for Ashley.

Tonight, I learned my lesson. I'm sure these will be just as appreciated.

VBS is over and I've already found another one. I don't know if they will want to go, but this is really a good gig for me. They learn about Jesus and I get to walk with a friend. I'd say that is a win win situation. However, I'm not so sure the kids will want to do another VBS. But we will see. That one starts on Monday. Tomorrow is another day of swimming if it doesn't rain.

Hail!

Today we went to see the movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. I don't know why I decided to see this movie since I hated the first one. But I'm glad I did because it is so much better than the first. We decided to see the movie today because we had terrible storms here and couldn't go swimming. On our way home from the movie I heard big pellets hitting the car. Then I saw them bouncing off the car. It was hail. And it was BIG! My friend Doris was so amazed by it. She stood at my front porch and was just mesmerized. She went out in it and gathered up several of hail balls and we decided to measure them. Unfortunately, this one melted a lot before we measured it. She got a picture of it in her hand and then measured her hand. It was 3 1/2" long! No joke! In the picture below, it is just measly 2 1/4".

Tonight when we dropped the kiddos off at VBS it was still raining. BUMMER! So we walked the mall. We walked another 2 miles tonight. Yea Me!

I'm Stove Up!

Here is a glimpse of the chart that I made. Two of them were well on there way before I even woke up this morning. They were so excited they finished up in the afternoon and got a big 100% on their chart. And the last one, well he just completed his last one a couple minutes ago.

Two of the kids wanted to go back to VBS. Ashley took a friend and got a water gun as a prize. They made some cute lion masks and sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Aussie went with Daddy and Doris and I walked another 2 miles tonight. We went to a different park this time and it was one that I had not been to before. It was really beautiful. We even saw a doe up close on the trail. We swam in the rain earlier today. I got several laps in, so again I'm worn out and stiff. Or as Doris would say, "I'm stove up" That's certainly not a northern word.

Tonight, I think I'll actually be able to get into bed early. The last two nights even though I was tired I still had several things to do. But tonight I'm done and can go to bed.

10 for 10

Another busy day and I'm too tired to finish my coupon job tonight. I'll have to finish it in the morning.

So I hung out with Doris again today and she was telling me about something she is doing for the summer and thought I might like to join her on that. She and her son are doing 10 things everyday. You can see her list here. So I came up with our 10.

1. Clean Something
2. Math (Kids need to learn their multiplication better and I need to work on saving us money with coupons or cleaning out my email inbox watching the numbers go down.)
3. Water (at least 2 cups)
4. One Fruit or Vegetable (Aussie is dreading this one! Yesterday he announced that popcorn was a vegetable because it came from corn.
5. Walk for at least 15 minutes
6. Read
7. Journal
8. One Dairy (Ashley is dreading this one and went to bed really upset!)
9. One Random Act of Kindness
10. Create Something

The kids will start tomorrow, but I went ahead and completed my list. I have to say I made a 100! I did all of them. Yay me!

Today, Ashley went to a friend's house during the day. The boys and I headed over to Doris' pool. We hung out for 2 hours then came back home. Then tonight we went to a VBS that our neighbor invited us to. Ashley and Mason liked it. Aussie absolutely hated it. And I mean down-right bored out of his mind hated it! I can't say I blame him. I told him he only had to try it for one day and if he didn't like it he didn't have to go back. But there were only 10 kids there. TEN! I thought all of them would hate it, but Ashley and Mason want to go back. Anyway, Doris and I had planned to walk the trail we walked yesterday. We headed out but there was an accident and we were barely moving. So we didn't make it to the park. We went to Aldi and I bought some fruit. Then we headed back to the church. We walked around the church and up this street. It was really cool because part of the street looked like we were in a jungle. Rich green trees and vines and hearing and seeing a couple hawks call back and forth to each other. And then we would go just a little further and see run down city. It was very odd but interesting. We estimated that we walked a mile.

All of us again were worn out from our busy day. I suspect we will be worn out again tomorrow.

Chinese Restaurant and Camp

I am beat! Absolutely beat! Today has been a wonderful but long day. After church we went to a new Chinese restaurant my friend Doris has been telling us about. So we met her there and it was instantly the boys new favorite restaurant. Ashley says it is her second favorite. Her first favorite was Evergreen and it closed down a month or so ago.

After the meal Aussie introduced himself to the owner in Chinese. Then he made up another sentence and rattled it off. When he said it he then asked if he said it correctly and that he intended to say, " I like your french fries." He indeed said it perfectly. The owner before moving to America was an elementary teacher in China. She said that if she had not seen Aussie's face she would have thought he was another Chinese person. She said his diction and tones were perfect. Can you tell I'm a pretty proud Mom? The guests paying their bill behind us were quite impressed as well.

A few hours after lunch we met up with Doris again at the park and walked 2 miles. The park is really lovely and the path is shaded. That and it was late afternoon when the sun wasn't beating down. My body hurts. I haven't exercised those muscles in a long time. After walking the 2 miles we went back to her place and went swimming. Some more great exercise. But it has left me so very tired. Ashley fell asleep on the couch. Mason fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and Aussie was out soon after that.

Last weekend my kids went to camp. This was really the first time all three of them have been gone for more than a night. I was fine and enjoyed the time I could spend without them. I had a gift certificate for a manicure- so I got that and a pedicure as well. Greg and I went to a Hibachi type Japanese restaurant and the food was AMAZING! And we went to see the movie, Thor. It was good, but not great. I have to admit that when the 3 nights, 4 days were over I was very happy to see my kids. Greg made it through it, but he almost made himself sick worrying about them (at least that first night.)

These pictures below are out of order. When they got back they had a performance on Wednesday night to show the parents what they learned.

Ashley is with her friend Mattison.

Here the kids are starting a little "dance" number.

This picture was specifically taken to show Aussie just how much taller Mason is than him.

This was the last day of camp. All of them were given these red camp shirts. I happen to get this group shot of the 3rd grade girls.

They were happy to see me. Mason told me something that broke my heart a bit though. He said, they had one rule in their cabin and that was no crying. Then he said to me, "but every night I was crying inside because I missed you."

And here is a picture the first day. Ashley agreed for me to drop her off at her cabin, go and set up the boys and then come back and set her up.

Aussie and Mason immediately pushed their beds together.

Here are all the 3rd grade boys. I managed to get a group shot before leaving to set up Ashley.

Once I got to Ashley's cabin they had to get started. So I set up her bed but didn't get any pictures of her before I left. The girl's cabin was a lot nicer than the boys.

I thought this was a pretty little bridge right outside the boy's cabin.

They ask the parents to write a note for each day they are there and put them in a basket and they will give them out on the appropriate day. Aussie couldn't figure out how I got my letters there everyday. Bless him! (That's a southern saying that means he's not very smart.)

He is NOT really dumb, I just suppose he didn't have his thinking cap on.

Each cabin had a color. The boy's color was orange. One of their least favorite colors but they wore their bandannas with pride.

Ashley's color was pink. Her counselor made pink tie dye shirts and gave them pink bandannas. I wish I would have gotten a picture.

I'm sure there is more to say but I need to go to sleep.

Tomorrow we have another busy day.

Busy Busy Busy

So what in the world has kept me so very busy lately?

I've been volunteered as the new co-op yearbook person.

When I showed a little interest, it all of a sudden became my responsibility.

Now with that said, I'm enjoying it.

However, I don't like this time crunch.

Thursday after the cooking class, I went to the person's house who has done it for the past several years so she could teach me. Thankfully, I picked up on it fast. And what I thought was that I would be taking over next year, actually I am doing half of the book this year.

So THAT is what has been keeping up later than usual this past week. I need to have my part done by Thursday.

So Saturday, my friend Doris came over with G. The kids played together, while she scrapbooked and I worked on the yearbook. Ashley also invited one of her friends over.

For a little break we went to a nearby park for an hour to play.

The kids had a grand time in the sand.

And then they got to go down to the lake and rinse off their feet.

This picture makes me think of those models coming out of the water.

And this picture makes me laugh.

Then we went back home and the kids were playing a silly game. When one of them said a joke, they would get knocked backwards onto the couch.

And now I'm very tired and need to go to bed. Only 2 more days of school. Someone told the kids tomorrow was a holiday. URRRRR! I'm afraid I won't be able to get them to do school tomorrow, just dragging it out one more day.

2nd Cooking Class

Oh my stars have I been busy!

Thursday the kids had another cooking class. This time I made aprons and chef hats for the boys. I made Ashley's at Christmas. Mason's favorite color is red

and Aussie's favorite color is black.

I want to get them embroidered, but I really don't want to pay the money for it. I got out my sewing machine and tried to learn how to do it on my own machine. But unfortunately, I need a little ring thing to

keep the fabric tight and I didn't have it. So I ventured out to Walmart and they didn't have it either. Maybe I'll be able to get one at JoAnn's tomorrow.

The kids love their aprons and they got matching notebooks and pens so they could play "waiter/waitress".

This time on the menu was:

steak- on the grill

broccoli with cheese and lemon juice

fruit kabobs

homemade oven fries

and

brownies

Aussie was ALL about making the PERFECT fries. He took FOREVER peeling his potatoes and cutting them up. So long that we finally had to put the others in the oven and cook his separately.

Ashley takes the steaks out to the grill.

Ashley and Mason really got into making the fruit kabobs. I'm trying to remember the fruit that Ashley tried for the first time and loved it so much. It's related to the peach.

We made brownies, which was the boys favorite.

And here is our finished product.

I didn't think I would like the lemon on the broccoli, but it was good.

Mmmmm!

Bon Apetit!

And here is my corner slice of the brownie. That's my favorite part of brownies!

It took much much longer than we anticipated. And I ended up being 2 hours late to my next appointment. And I'll write about all that in my next blog post.

Chef Mason

Chef Mason ready for our cooking class tomorrow.

Now I need to make one for Aussie, but I don't have any black fabric. His will have to wait until next week.

I'm hoping to get their names embroidered on the aprons.

Done with English for the Week!

Well today's English assignment was a toughie!
It breaks my heart but Ashley is not very nice to the boys, especially Aussie.

She also has a hard time accepting compliments.

So today's assignment "Three Things I Like About Ashley" did not go so smoothly!

First thing Aussie said to me was, "Should I lie?"

I told him he needed to find something good about her.

He came up with everything he wrote.

(Click here to see Aussie's Blog)

I had to give several ideas to Ashley.

She came up with two and I said, "What about how you love tigers or how you love me?"

"Hmmm..", she said, "I think I'll do tigers because it is shorter."

Um...OK...shorter than Mom.

Whatever!

(Click here to see Ashley's Blog)

Mason gets along with her just fine, but he could not think of anything to say. So I had to give him lots of ideas. Of course as soon as I mentioned anything he said, "Yes, I'll use that!" He did come up with some of his own lines though. You can probably figure out which ones they are. The way he words things sometimes is really cute!

(Click here for Mason's Blog)

And now here is my paragraph about my daughter.

There are 3 things I like about Ashley. These three things are she likes dolls and girly things, she likes to sing and she looks like me. First, Ashley likes dolls and girly things. I love that she has an American Girl doll that I can dress them in matching clothes. Second, she likes to sing. I love to sing and I'm so glad she has an interest in the same thing I like. Third, she looks like me. I always wanted a girl and God blessed me with a beautiful one. All of these things I like about Ashley remind me of myself when I was little.

And tomorrow we are doing Math!

'Nough said!

Three Things I Like About Mason

Please don't grade me on my English. It is not one of my strong points. Turn around is fair play. Aussie asked me to write a paragraph about him and I did. So now it is Mason's turn. Please remember I have to write the paragraph in this repetitive format, in which they are learning.

There are three things I like about Mason. These three things are he is happy, a peacemaker and a great singer. First, Mason is almost always happy. I like that Mason is happy because I love seeing his big smile. Second, I like that Mason is a peacemaker. I like that Mason is a peacemaker because it helps to keep things sane around here. Third, Mason is a great singer I like that Mason is a great singer because I love to hear him belt out songs in church on key. These three things about Mason make me proud to call him my son.

Their first cooking class

On Facebook a week or two ago I asked my friends if anyone knew of a cooking class for children. I knew about Young Chef's Academy, but it was too expensive. So one of my church friends responded to me. She said that she loved to cooked and would love to teach my children one day a week. I was thrilled! She is a nutritionist and a very good cook. Yesterday we had our first class.She was amazing. She went over kitchen safety. And she had the plan written out. She showed the kids the menu.

Menu:

Main Dish-Lasagna

Side-Apple and Carrot Slices

Drink-Milk

Dessert-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Then she showed how we had to think about what takes the longest to make and what we needed to work on first. She showed each step of the way.

Ashley and Mason really wanted to learn, but I wasn't so sure about Aussie. He gave me a hard time in the car. But he stepped up to the plate and enjoyed himself while he was there. Here he is browning the ground beef for the lasagna.

Mason sprays the pan.

Ashley had to have a turn too browning the ground beef.

Ms. Helen also told us that when we start to cook a lot we can learn that we can substitute several things to make them healthier. When we made our cookies we added a 1/2 cup whole wheat flour to them.

Everyone had a turn beating the cookie batter.

Aussie really enjoyed sifting the flour.

working together

They were learning to use the knife. This made them nervous. It also made me nervous. One thing that is really cool is Ms. Helen is also left handed. I'm sure that will help a lot in teaching my left handed children.

Ashley got peeling the carrots down pat.

Lasagna is done and WOW did it taste good. It was actually one of the best tasting lasagnas I've ever had. I'm sure it had something to do with the sauce. One sauce we used was Harris Teeter traditional sauce and the other was Bertolli. When I make this again I need to remember to get those.

Can't believe I missed picturing the cookies.

Anyway, we sat down for lunch and it was delicious.

She asked the kids what they wanted to make next time and Ashley shouted out steak. Aussie said-Can you guess? French Fries and Mason said Brownies.

So we will be making Steak, oven fries and brownies the next time we get together.

This is awesome!